When one World Tumbles, Another Rises
by Summer Leigh Wind
Summary: Lucius frowns a moment. "Then...why don't we get rid of them? They're betraying tradition all the time, Mr. Potter's wife is only a second generation witch! I heard so!" He declares and he sees his father's eyes curiously flash with fear. "Have you been spying on Mr. Riddle and I?" Companion/prelude to We can Begin the World all Over Again. A One-Shot.


_**When one World Tumbles, Another Rises**_

* * *

Lucius trots easily beside his father, the tall man keeping all that might jostle or bump into his heir from coming near with a foreboding glare. Tugging on his father's robe, Lucius points hopefully to the candy shop; "May we stop there father?" He asks.

Running lean fingers through fine blond hair that he knows is all his mother's, Abraxas Malfoy's lips turn upwards. "After the we finish up with my business at the Leakey Cauldron," he tells him.

The child's nose crinkles. "Who are we doing 'business' with father?" He questions, eyes sadly breaking away from the aforementioned shop.

"Mr. Potter," Mr. Malfoy replies voice carefully neutral.

"I don't like him," Lucius declares, "He always looks at us like we smell."

The tall man chuckles and slips his fingers into his small son's hands. "He does, doesn't he?" He muses, gray eyes becoming distant.

Giving his father's hand a little pull as he leans to inspect a cat darting into an alleyway, the boy thinks to ask; "Why is that father? How come he always looks that way at us? At the parties Mrs. Potter never does and their boy-Jamie? He's only little, but he frowns at us a lot too." Gray eyes solemn, he watches his father; waiting for an answer.

A canyon forms between Abraxas's brows, turning his face away from his son; he murmurs, "There are many divides in this world, we fall on one and the Potters on another-it means we do not agree and therefore tolerate each other but nothing else."

Innocently, Lucius inquires, "Why do we meet with them at all then? If we don't like them? Wouldn't it be better if we stopped seeing them altogether?"

The man barks a laugh that's not as pleasant as it usually is to the boy's ears. "Oh, if only we could!" Abraxas exclaims, "If only!" Shaking his head, his hooded eyes find the clear ones of his only son. "The world is much too small for that, Lucius, and our business and lives too intertwined for them to ever be separate."

Lucius frowns a moment. "Then...why don't we get rid of them? They're betraying tradition all the time, Mr. Potter's wife is only a second generation witch! I heard so!" He declares and he sees his father's eyes curiously flash with fear.

"Have you been spying on Mr. Riddle and I?"

Dropping his stare to his immaculate shoes, the blond child shrugs. "I-maybe?" He replies.

Abraxas exhales again, "Just because we don't agree, doesn't mean we can rid of them;" he explains.

"You'd be a lot happier if we didn't have to see Mr. Potter so much," Lucius says.

Strong fingers squeezing his own, his father's regal head bobs. "That is true...but, I'd hate to see him dead. He is a father Lucius. He has a wife and child who depend on him...people who care about him. Do you see Lucius? We do not get rid of him and he does not get rid of me because we understand this." The man elaborates this to the child, yet, there's confusion in those clean-cut gray eyes even as Lucius nods.

Coming to the Leakey Cauldron, Abraxas pushes a couple coins into his son's hand when he sees John Potter looking out at him through the window. "Go get us some fire whiskey and yourself some pumpkin juice, hm?"

"Alright," Lucius consents, walking towards the bar as his father slides into the seat across from Mr. Potter. Slapping down a couple coins for the bartender, Lucius smiles just enough not to be called cheeky and orders, "A bottle of fire whiskey and a pumpkin juice, sir!"

* * *

Unhappy blue eyes stare at the small back of the boy ordering at the bar. "Why did you bring him, Malfoy?"

The blond smirks. "Intimidated by a child, are we?"

A growl slipping from his gritted teeth, Potter slams his butterbeer glass down a lot harder than necessary. "You know exactly what I called you hear to discuss, but you brought him anyway! You always do this shite! How are we ever do get anything done when you always bring him! You know Jenna would have happily watched that little Slytherin-to-be!" He hisses angrily at the blond man.

Abraxas frowns. "You know our sons do not get along, Jenna mayhap enjoy his company-and can you blame her? What, with having an _imbecile _for a husband."

Potter bares his teeth wholly, his eyes livid with rage and with a furtive glance; the man is relieved to see that the bartender (what a good fellow he always is), is keeping Lucius busy with some tale or another about Hogwarts. "Goddamn it Abraxas! Everyone _knows _you were one of the blokes involved in pushing Leach out of office! Just tell us what you did so we can reinstate him! He's _agreed _to change his view on the Squib rights!"

With a voice colder than ice, Abraxas narrowed his eyes and declared; "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You bloody well do!" Potter howled, standing up; chest heaving as the occupants of the Leakey Cauldron stared at the two men.

The bartender, for his part frowned and told them; "Get out, I don't want no trouble on my watch!"

"Of course my good sir," The blond smiled, putting down a few extra coins for the disturbance and calls to Lucius, "Lucius, it is time to go." The youth nods and with a quick word to the bartender who's lips quirk at whatever it is that Lucius said, the boy is at his side.

"You can't be serious!" The dark-haired man snaps, treading on their heals as they hurriedly make their way out. "You can't just walk out like this before we discuss anything!"

"If you aren't going to be civil, why should I stay?" Abraxas counters, hurriedly ushering his heir through the door. The sooner they get out of here the better.

"Wait! Goddamnit!" Potter yells at them as they hurry to separate themselves from the irate man. "Stop Malfoy!" The man screams one last time. A moment later, Abraxas gasps; nearly toppling over his son at the force of the spell shot at him.

Wheezing through the inner-fire of his body, the proud man rolls over in the dirt to see John Potter staring blankly at him-wand in hand.

* * *

"Daddy!" Lucius can't help but cry as his father falls to the ground. Kneeling down beside him, the boy rests a hesitant hand on his shoulder only to cause him to wince. Jerking back, Lucius desperately looks up and to Mr. Potter. He has to fix this! He _has _to! What he finds in the man's eyes is not remorse, but a cold satisfaction and it scares Lucius; "dad.." he mumbles.

At his almost noiseless whisper, the smaller man's eyes train on Lucius; his grip on his wand tightening.

"No..he's just a boy..." father rasps, clumsily moving and trying to cover the youth with his bulk.

Potter doesn't say anything, yet his eyes meet Lucius and they convey a terrifying message. "Try anything and you'll wish you hadn't." Gulping, the boy can't stop his trembling as he clings to his father's arm even as he groans from the pain.

Without any preparation, Lucius feels a tug at his navel and realizes his father is apparating them away; however, it does nothing to erase the intense stare from his mind's eye. Soon, soon it will join his memories; prominent and glaring through all the rest. Now on the floor of their home, Lucius asks, "Daddy, what spell did he use? Are you going to be okay?"

The proud man looks at his child's earnest face and without prompt; buries his face in his boy's lap and weeps for the dark future to come.

* * *

**A rather sad One-Shot that goes with my story _We can Begin the World all Over Again_ (if I say so myself. It's obviously in the real past, but this sort of sets up background for future chapters and gives helpful insight Lucius's past as well as John Potter's (Jame's dad). Tell me what you think, Lucius is like, nine, maybe ten in this.**

**Thank you for reading and please review :)**


End file.
